Flue-cleaner.



E. NORBO.

FLUE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1913.

1,096,559, Patented May 12, 1914.

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COLUMBIA PLANDORAFN C0-. WASHINGTON D C E. NORBO.

FLUE CLEANER.

APPLIOATION IILBI) MAY 3, 1913.

1,096,559, Patented May12,1914.

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COLUMBIA PLANOORAPN Co.,WAsmNOTON. u. C

ELV'EN NORBO, OF CASHTON, WISCONSIN.

FLUE-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12,1914.

Application filed May 3, 1913. Serial No. 765,373.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELvnN NORBO, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Cashton, in the county of Vernon andState of \Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Flue-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawm s.

'lihis invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in fluecleaners and has for its primary object to provide an automatic chimneyflue cleaner which may be readily adjusted for the various sized flues.

A further object is to provide a flue cleaner of this character whichwill be of extremely simple construction and which will be constructedin such manner that the free ends of the spring arms with the removableand adjustable brushes secured thereto may be automatically forcedoutwardly as the cleaner reaches the bottom of the flue, thereby causingthe brushes to en gage and clean the walls of the flue upon upwardmovement of the cleaner.

A further object is to provide a flue cleaner of this character whichmay be readily and quickly adjusted and which may be secured to the endof a rope and let down a flue while the brushes are in their innermostpositions and spaced from the walls of the flue, said cleaner beingprovided with a bumper which will automatically force the brushesoutwardly as the cleaner reaches the bottom of the flue, thereby causingthe brushes to engage and clean the walls of the flue as the cleaner isdrawn upwardly.

A still further object is to provide a spreader plate through the centerof which is slidably mounted a central slide bar and latch bar while thebrush carrying spring arms are slidably engaged through the corners ofsaid plate and adapted for adjustment transversely of the plate to varythe -width of the cleaner at its brush carrying or lower end of thecleaner for flues of various widths, as will be readily understood.

A further object is to provide a cleaner of this character having thebrush carrying spring arms provided with coiled upper ends and engagedaround the upper end of the slidable center rod.

Another object is to generally improve and simplify the construction ofdevices of this character and increase the efficiency and durability ofthe same.

WVith the above and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevational view of mydevice with parts broken away; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view ofthe latch member, sleeve and lower end of the central slide bar, withparts of the sleeve and slide bar broken away; Fig. 3 is a detail planview of the spreader plate; Fig. 4: is a detail view of the upper end ofone of the brush carrying spring arms; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view ofthe complete device; Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the complete devicewith the U-shaped spreader plate carrying member in section; Fig. 7 is adetail cross-sectional view through one of the brush members to show theconstruction of the same; Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the clampingmembers for clamping the brush member upon its spring arm; and Fig. 9 isa detail view, showing the preferred manner of forming the lower end ofthe central slide bar. Fig. 10 is a detail view, showing theconstruction of the upper end of the U-shaped rod upon which is mounted,the spreader plate.

Referring more specifically to the drawings in which similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1designates the spreader plate which is of substantially rectangular formand which is mounted upon the opposite ends of the U-shaped rod 2 whichhas its central or bight portion coiled, as shown at 3, nuts 4: or thelike being secured upon the threaded ends of the rod 2 to retain theplate in position, it being understood that the threaded ends of theU-shapcd rod 2 extend through the spreader plate 1 adjacent thelongitudinal edges of the latter and about midway the length of saidplate. The plate 1 has a central opening ,5 to accommodate the centralslide bar (5 which has a flange 7 near its upper end and a nut 8 on theupper threaded extremity thereof. A guide plate 9 is mounted centrallyupon the upper end of the central slide bar 6, inwardly of the nut 8 andhas its opposite ends perforated, as shown at 10, to accommodate thelegs of the U-shaped rod, upon which the guide plate is adapted to slideto guide the central slide bar 6 in its move ment through the spreaderplate 1.

Engaged around the lower end of the central slide bar 6 is the sleeve 11provided with the longitudinal slot 12 in one face through which thestop lug 13 is engaged, said stop lug projecting laterally from thecentral slide bar 6, adjacent the forward extremity of the same. Thestop lug 13 limits the slid-- ing movement of the central slide bar 6through the spreader plate 1, by engagement against the opposite endwalls of the longitudinal slot 12, as will be clearly understood. Thesleeve 11 has a longitudinal pocket 14.- in one side through whichextends the adjustable rod 15, said rod fitting snugly in thelongitudinal pocket 14. thereby causing the sleeve 11 to move with therod when the latter is adjusted. The rod is extended for some distancedownwardly from the lower end of the sleeve 11 and has the bumper 16clamped upon its lower extremity, as shown at 17, said lower extremitybeing preferably turned upon itself to form the loop 18. Adjacent theupper end of the sleeve 11, the adjustable rod 15 is looped, as shown at19, and then extended through an elongated slot 20 near the center ofthe spreader plate 1, said upwardly extended portion of the rod beingflattened and provided upon one edge with the spaced notches 21. It willbe seen that owing to the looped portion 19 of the upwardly extended endof the rod 15, said upwardly extended portion will be resilientlyretained at one end of the elongated slot 20, thereby causing the teeth22 to engage the opposite faces of the spreader plate 1 when a notch 21registers with the elongated slot 20, thereby locking the adjustable rod15 in adjusted position. It will be seen that when the adjustable rod 15is moved in either direction, the sleeve 11 and central slide bar 6 willbe caused to move with said rod 15, the guide plate 9 sliding upon thelegs of the U-shaped rod 2 and guiding the central slide bar and sleeve.It will be understood that the central slide bar is prefer ably ofrectangular form in cross-section and the central opening 5 in thespreader plate 1 is of a corresponding form, thereby making itimpossible for the spreader plate to rotate around the slide bar 6.

I have provided aplurality of brush carrying spring arms 23 which arepreferably of circular form in crosssection and formed of suitableresilient metal and while any number of these arms may be provided, Iprefer to employ six arranged as shown in the drawing. The spreaderplate 1 has a central longitudinally extending slot 24 in each end ofthe same and a triangular slot 25 in each corner with a plurality ofnotches 25 in the outer wall thereof, the purpose of which willpresently appear. Each arm 23 has a brush 26 clamped upon its outerlooped end 27 by a U-shaped clamping member 28 upon the central portionof which the brush 26 is pivoted, as shown at 29, thereby making itpossible to turn the brush 26 upon the clamping member or swing theclamping member upon the outer looped end .27 of the brush carryingspring arm 23, as desired, it simply being necessary to tighten the nuts30 to secure the brush in the desired position. arms 23 extend throughthe slots 24: and 25 and have their upper ends coiled, as shown at 31and then extended at right angles and wrapped around the upper end ofthe central slide bar 6 between the flange 7 and the nut 8, as shown at32, it being understood the ends of the spring arms engaged around theslide bar 6 are separated and spaced by suitable washers 33.

It will be understood that three of the spring arms 23 extend throughthe slots in each end of the spreader plate 1 and when the corner springarms are in the outer corners of the triangular slots 25, the cornerbrushes 26 carried by the arms are in their outermost positions. Whenthe corner spring arms 23 are in the inner corners of the triangularslots 25, the corner brushes 26 are in their innermost positions.

be employed, I prefer to employ straight brushes for the central springarms 23 while the corner brushes are right angled brushes. It will alsobe understood that each brush in any preferred manner but I prefer toform the bristles 34 thereof, of steel wire and secure the same to thebody 35 of the brush by means of the brass wire members 36. I alsoprefer to make the body 35 of each brush of metal and bend backthe loweredge thereof, as shown at 35 for engagement upon the U-shaped clampingmember 28.

In use, the adjustable rod 15 is properly adjusted in the spreader plate1, according to the size of the fine to be cleaned, it being understoodthat as the rod 15 is forced downwardly through the spreader plate 1,the brush carrying spring arms 23 will spread or move outwardly whilemovement of said adjustable rod in the opposite direction will allow thebrush carrying spring arms 23 to be drawn closer together. After the rod15 has been properly adjusted, the coiled upper ends 31 of the springarms 23 are grasped and the rod 6 is drawn back, thereby causing theguide plate 9 to move upon the legs of the U-shaped rod toward thecoiled central or bight portion of said rod until the stop lug 13 withinthe longislot. This movement of the spring arms 23 draws the brushes 26and lower ends of said rods inwardly to inoperative position. The deviceis then lowered in the flue by means The spring lWhile any suitable formof brushes may may be formed of any suitable material and tudinal slot12 reaches the upper end of said ieo of a rope 37 or the like having oneend secured in the coiled central or bight portion 3 of the U-shaped rod2, until the bumper 16 strikes the bottom of the flue and stops :turtherdownward movement of the adjustable rod 15, the sleeve 11, spreaderplate 1, and U-shaped rod 2. The central slide bar 6, brush carryingspring arms 23, and brushes 23 continue to move downwardly, however,until the stop lug 13 reaches the lower end of the slot 12. This allowsthe tree ends of the rods 23 and the brushes 26 upon the lower free endsof said rods to move outwardly to operative position, engaging thebristles 3d of the brushes 26 with the walls of the flue. It will beseen that as the device is drawn upwardly, the brushes 26 will scrapeand thoroughly clean the walls of the flue. It will also be seen thatowing to the notches 25 in the outer or end walls of the triangularslots 25 and the spaced notches 21 in the longitudinal edge of theadjustable rod 15, the spring arms 23 may be readily adjusted toproperly space the brushes 26 for various sizes of flues from anextremely small flue to a very large flue. It will be understood,however, that when the device is to be used, for cleaning the largersized flues, the brushes 26 shown in the drawing may be removed andlarger brushes substituted for the same. This, however, will notnecessitate the alteration in the construction or arrangement in any ofthe parts 01 the device.

While I have shown the preferred form of my flue cleaner, it will beunderstood that minor changes in the details of construction andarrangements of parts may be made within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificingany of the advantages (it the same.

\Yhat I claim is:-

1. A flue cleaner comprising a spreader plate, means for supporting thespreader plate, a central slide bar engaged through the spreader plate,a plurality of brush carrying spring arms carried by the slide bar andengaged through the spreader plate, and brushes carried by the springarms.

2. A flue cleaner comprising a spreader plate having a central openingand a series of spring arm accommodating openings out wardly ot thecentral opening, a slide bar engaged through the central opening, meansfor limiting movement of the slide bar, a plurality of spring armscarried by the slide bar and engaged through the spring armaccommodating openings in the spreader plate, said spring arms beingconnected to the slide bar in such manner that movement of the latter inone direction through the spreader plate will cause spreading of thefree ends of the spring arms, and cleaning members carried by the freeends of the spring arms.

3. A flue cleaner comprising a spreader plate, a spring arm carryingmember movably engaged through the spreader plate, spring arms carriedby the last mentioned member, means for limiting movement of the movablemember, and cleaning members carried by the spring arms.

l. A flue cleaner comprising a spreader plate, a slide bar engagedthrough the spreader plate, means mounted upon the slide bar and engagedwith the spreader plate for limiting movement of the slide bar, meansfor retaining the spreader plate in position, spring arms connected withthe slide bar and extended at an angle through the spreader plate, andcleaning members carried by the spring arms.

A flue cleaner comprising a spreader plate, a slide bar slidably engagedthrough the center of the spreader plate, said spreader plate beingprovided in its opposite ends with spring arm accommodating openings,certain of said openings being provided with notches in one wall, springarms carried by the slide bar and engaged through the spring armaccommodating openings in the spreader plate and adapted for engagementwith the notches provided in one wall of certain of said openings, aUshaped member connected with the spreader plate, means for limitingmove ment of the slide bar through the spreader plate and adjusting saidslide bar, cleaning members, and means for clamping the cleaning membersupon the spring arms.

In testimony whereot I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ELVEN NORBO.

\V i tnesses James TIIoMrsoN, CARRIE JonNs'roN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of I'atents, Washington, D. G.

